


A Specter in the Night

by SapphireStorm13 (orphan_account)



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders Needs a Hug, But that's basically just Virgils life, Dubious Morality, Hurt/Comfort, Logan has Metal Powers, M/M, Morally Neutral Deceit | Janus Sanders, Patton is fast, Roman Heals, Team as Family, Virgil kills people, references to death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27205931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SapphireStorm13
Summary: The Light Sides; a hero team focused on protecting the innocent citizens of Thomasburg, have to unravel the mystery of a string of murders in their town.A man the papers have called 'The Specter' has been killing goons of the former crime boss, Janus Anguis AKA The Oroboros.But is it a reign of terror? Or a man in desperate need of saving?
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 12
Kudos: 52





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan starts his morning in the usual manner.

It was the twelfth body this month.

This had officially gotten out of hand.

Logan Veritas stared at the police report and wished they would get a new coffee maker in here. Twelve bodies. In two weeks. How did they let this happen?

He let out a long-suffering sigh and wished Roman would be later than usual. He wasn’t in the mood for the usual theatrics and pageantry. 

They didn’t have to autopsy yet so it would be wrong to jump to any conclusions, not that it would ever stop Roman Rex from doing whatever he wanted. 

It was seven in the morning and he already could feel the stress headache. 

He removed his glasses to rub his eyes and wished quietly, no matter how small the chances were, that this was not another set of Specter murders. 

But he had seen the crime scene photos already. 

And the purple bruise-like marks on the victims head.

Though depending on who you asked ‘victim’ was now a relative term.

The yellow-double headed snake tattoo on the victims right wrist was enough to cause all kinds of speculation that Logan had spent far too much of his energy on trying to dampen.

Janus Anguis was gone.

They had made sure of that.

Any lingering members of his organized crime syndicate were leaderless and likely scattered amongst other groups of similar law-breaking schemes.

Logan preferred to focus on the actual evidence directly in front of him. It was tangible, concrete, solid.

Shaking his head of the stressful thoughts he typed in the new data into his algorithms. New data would make his calculations and the profile that was coming along very nicely more accurate. More accurate profile meant a greater chance of correctly identifying the Specter. 

Whatever they were going to do with him, all of the data they had suggested a male suspect, when they caught him.

“Good morning! I was late because I was getting you Starbucks!” Patton Amare greeted as he entered the Hall’s private room. Carrying a set of three drinks each with color-coded lids.

“Thank you, Patton. I need the caffeine,” Logan took the one that had his deep blue lid. 

“You’re welcome, do we already have work to do this lovely morning?” Patton asked grabbing his light blue chair from where he usually sat and rolling it over to be next to Logan.

“We might have another Specter Incident.”

“And what trouble has our new recruit gotten into this time.”

“Patton,” Logan corrected, “We are not recruiting this person.”

“Yes we are. They need us, clearly. The mean old snake is targeting them and they have powers like us and they need help and guidance and love.”

“Good luck trying to convince Roman of that.”

“Roman is just being stubborn. You know how he is with anything involving Janus.”

Logan rolled his eyes, “We don’t even know for sure if Janus Anguis is actually targeting this person. We just know that some of his former associates have been killed by an individual with a dangerous power.”

Patton gave him his best disappointed Dad stare. The one with the narrowed eyes and not quite a frown but certainly not his usual beaming smile.

Logan relented, “I maintain my position, we know nothing of the motives behind this induvial. As such I cannot pass judgment as to whether or not the team would benefit from having him join. Therefore I will refrain from judging or forming opinions on this person until such a time as to where we have more information. I am remaining impartial on this matter.”

Patton’s expression softened. “We’ll find the Specter. Three is…not the right number for this table.”

Logan frowned. It was true, to an extent. The Hall of Heroics, because that’s what they get for letting Roman name the place, was designed for up to six members. The large round table in the center was massive, enough to allow those six to being working on projects all at the same time. When it was built they were five, it had been cozy then. 

But they were three now and Logan knew that Patton’s eyes would still linger on the spots where Remus and Janus once sat. 

Patton laid his head on Logan’s shoulder. It didn’t interrupt his work so Logan let him.

Patton was tense. 

Logan decided to switch topics. Patton moping around would get them nowhere and there was little he could do about the empty space in the room.

“How’s Virgil doing?” 

The mention of the new friend Patton had made five months ago was enough to snap him, partially, out of the funk. “He’s been doing so much better. We went to Sandersland this weekend and he actually smiled! I took a picture want to see?”

Logan didn’t particularly care for the person he hadn’t met but talking about him made Patton smile so he let him rant while Logan typed. “Sure.”

Patton pulled out his phone and started scrolling through the photos of himself and Virgil Dolor at various places in the amusement park an hour from town. 

Virgil, from what Logan knew of the stories from Patton, the photos he had seen and the background check he ran without telling anyone, was a pale man who seemed only capable of wearing the colors purple and black with dark hair and heavy black eye shadow who kept to himself and preferred to be left alone. He also, according to Patton, had a crippling Haphephobia.

A fear of being touched. 

Which was probably why Virgil in all the pictures wore so many layers of black and purple cloth.

Including a pair of striped purple and black gloved that exposed only the tips of his fingers.

“I have the best son.”

“He’s only two years younger than you. He cannot be your son.”

Patton ignored his input. “If only he was a Super like us. Then I could take my son to work!”

“Assuming Roman approved.”

“Virgil likes Disney. And musicals. They could work it out.”

Logan rolled his eyes again as he turned back from the phone Patton was shoving in his face to the screen of his computer. An email form the medical examiner. Logan opened it and read through it. “Confirmed. We have a total of twelve Spector victims.”

Patton frowned. “We need to do something.”

Logan was. “Well, the good things about having so much data is I am confident in the profile I have developed and we have an accurate estimation of the area in which the Spector lives.”

Patton’s eyes gleaned with joy. “We can find them?”

“Well we know where and have strong idea of what to look out for.” Logan said. “I’d rather explain this once so I’ll wait for Roman to finally grace us with his presence.”

Patton sat up in his chair, as he all but glowed with excitement. 

It was a shame that convincing Roman to change his mind was going to be nearly impossible. His ideals were strict and would never allow anyone with a body count to join their superhero team.

But why squash Patton’s hopes himself when Roman was bound to do so when he showed up?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woot!  
> Superhero AU!  
> Whose excited for this trip?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil attempts to cope with last night.

“The Specter Strikes Again: Serial Killer or Rogue Vigilante?” Virgil read out loud. His hands shook as he scrolled through the headlines. The news folk were fast. The attack had just happened last night, and everyone already knew what he had done.

What Virgil hated the most about all the attention was no one. No one. Was even considering that he was being attacked and hunted down and forced to defend himself. There were forums convinced he was somebody else in disguise.

His least favorite theory was that he was The Duke returned from the dead and wanting vengeance.

His personal favorite theory was him and The Red Royal being secretly in love and the attacks being some twisted form of flirting.

Solely because the idea of using corpses to flirt appealed to his morbid sense of humor.

Though the art some people were drawing based on the one almost clear image a security camera had taken one night. 

A streak of purple and black that was too hazy to make out any features.

Virgil had never been more grateful for shitty cameras on gas stations. 

His hands still shook as he read the statements from The Metallurgist, all amounting to “we are looking, but have found jack-shit.” Which was good. If that was true, then they hadn’t found him and he could continue to live his life. 

But it was also bad. If they were in the dark about Virgil’s identity, then did they know about Janus? 

Virgil put the phone on the coffee table before the stress became too overwhelming. 

Deep breaths. Hold it. Long exhale. 

His hands stopped shaking, but he needed to do something with them. Virgil sat up from the floor of his mediocre apartment and looked around. 

TV? On a Wednesday afternoon? Nothing worth watching on the regular channels and the news was going to be filled with calling him a killer so that was out. His eyes landed on the couch and considered a nap, it wasn’t like he had anywhere to be. But he wasn’t tired enough. Damn it. 

He narrowed his eyes as the black binder on the other side of his coffee table. The one with his knitting bag on top. 

Now there was a good idea. 

Two hours and three scarves later Virgil almost felt like a regular human being. 

He was actually proud of them, just a bit. 

One was an interwoven pattern of light blue and dark blue, the second was bright purple with bold red stripes, and the last was a black scarf with diamonds of the four other colors in alternating sequences. 

His hands needed a break though.

He checked his phone again. A text from Patton.

‘Hey, mind if I invite a friend with me on Saturday?”

Virgil narrowed his eyes and frowned. “Which friend?” he said out loud as he typed. Maybe he was paranoid, but a crime boss actually after him so it was justified. 

‘Logan. The cool one.’

Virgil took a few seconds and thought about it. Patton talked about his other friends often. Logan was Patton’s favorite to talk about. Though raving about his crush would be a more accurate description. Plus, it meant Patton asked less questions about Virgil, which was more than welcome.

“Fine.” He responded, “Just him though.” He had heard nothing but horror stories about the other one. To Virgil they were horror stories, to other people it would just be tales of the most flamboyant human being to ever walk the Earth.

Virgil wanted no part of it.

None.

Virgil looked down at his hands. The tips of his fingers poking out of the black wool. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. 

He could still hear the screaming of the thugs as they died. 

Music. He needed music. Something with lyrics and heavy guitar. 

(*******)  
Virgil had known better. He did. But he had gotten distracted and was outside just a little too late. Walking home in the dark was a bad idea no matter if you were being hunted by a former hero turned crime lord. 

Thinking about how Janus was doing that in a prison cell made Virgil more paranoid.

He just had to keep his hoodie up and his head down.

But they found him. Just like they had two times before. 

It had been three guys last night. Burly types, bruisers who were the breaking kneecaps and stuff you in bag and toss it in the back of their van. Not what one would expect from the master of deceit, but maybe his powers were somewhat limited behind bars.

“Hey kid!” One of them called out. 

Virgil had tried the walk-faster-and-hope-they-lose-interest approach. But then one of them stepped out in front of him. “Excuse me. I just want to get home and have a peaceful night. You know, with the serial killer walking around and shit?”

“Nice try. You know why we’re here.”

“I don’t. Actually I have no idea who you are or what you want. I just don’t want trouble.” Virgil tried to step around the man only to be grabbed by the arm. 

His hood was pulled back forcibly. “Yep. That’s the one. You’re worth a might big payday from our boss. He wants to have a talk.”

“You really don’t want to be touching me.” Virgil said, his heart starting to race as a white van parked next to where he was being held in place. He struggled to get away. “I’m serious. I don’t want trouble and it would be best for all of us if we all just walked away like this never happened.” Virgil knew it wasn’t likely to happen, but he wanted to at least try to get out of this.

“You’re coming with us.” 

No way in hell was he doing that.

“You can tell your boss to go to hell.” Virgil kicked the guy in the leg as hard as he could manage and nearly ran out of his grasp. Get away. Get away. Get away!

A gunshot rang out. A sharp piercing pain ripped through his leg. Virgil tumbled over he looked down as his leg that now had a hole in it. A bullet hole. Crap, he liked these pants. 

“Boss just wants you alive. Didn’t say anything about unharmed. And we saw what you did to the other guys.” Virgil had to give credit to this guy for being strong-willed enough to not flinch when someone he just shot wasn’t bleeding.

“Don’t.” Virgil’s voiced warped and twisted in his rage and pain. Damn it that hurt.

The man grabbed Virgil by the front of his hoodie and lifted him off his feet. 

Virgil grabbed onto the arm holding him up. His bare fingertips touched the exposed skin of the arm. 

The man screamed, dropped Virgil, and fell to the sidewalk dead.

The spots where Virgil’s skin touched him glowed purple. 

“Can you please leave me in peace now?” Virgil asked. 

The second guy came at Virgil with a pipe. A dodge to the left caused an accidental brush of his face. The second die fell over and screamed for a little longer before dying.

“What the hell are you?” The third man asked as he pointed a gun a Virgil’s head. 

Virgil stared him and the barrel down. “Does it matter?”

The man was shaking as Virgil reached out and tapped the man’s head once with his index finger. 

Another body hit the ground screaming.

(*******)  
If Virgil was lucky, which he wasn’t, Janus would run out of guys. Eventually. 

Hopefully.

But Thomasburg had a population of nearly two million and that was statistically a lot of stupid people. Very, very stupid people. 

Maybe he should move? But where could he go that wouldn’t cause problems? How far was far enough away? 

The thought of leaving and not seeing Patton again made his hands shake. 

The air in here was suffocating. 

He checked his apartment for any excuse to leave it. He could use a few things from the grocery store. 

That was as good as reason as any.

Today was just going to be one of his bad days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Our poor dark strange son....  
>  He can't even have a hug without risking killing the other person.
> 
> :(


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton convinces the others to make a choice.

Patton was hesitating. 

He knew that what he was thinking about was a bad idea. They couldn’t trust Janus. Not anymore. Patton’s chest hurt as he thought about what had happened. He shook his head and squished the sides of his face with his hands. 

The sky blue of his hero outfit shimmered in the daylight as he swung his legs back and forth. At 200 miles an hour. Because he could. 

Patton liked overlooking Thomasburg. His favorite spot was the tallest skyscraper, the very top was inaccessible to normal folks. But when you can run up walls it wasn’t much of an issue.

It was a peaceful day. But then again when you were six-hundred feet in the air it was hard to see any chaos below. 

The view from up here was almost the exact same as it was four years ago. Back before everything was different. 

How did end up like this? 

Where did they go wrong?

The white heart-shaped emblem on his chest started beeping. He pushed it. 

“Hey, we’re all clear to go to the morgue. The Red Royal is going to hold down the fort, you want to come with?” Logan’s voice helped snap Patton to the present. 

“Yes. I’ll meet you there.” Patton didn’t actually want to go. But he preferred it to moping up here with the birds.

“Alright then.”

(******)  
Patton was looking through the copy of the autopsy report while Logan, in his full Metallurgist outfit.

Logan had gone for a simple straight forward design. Dark blue pants and shirt with large metal gauntlets and a metal helmet that looked like one the police used. Nothing fancy. His emblem, a white brain, was on the outside of his right arm.

It was a uniform. And they needed to keep their identities a secret.

But dark blue worked on Logan. Even if Patton couldn’t see his face.

“They are the same as the others?” Logan was the king of double checking. 

“No trance of any chemical that could do this,” The coroner answered. “This one,” he pointed to one of the three bodies, “was a bit tipsy. And this one had a bunch of pain meds in his system. Other than that they were normal guys who all have the Ouroboros tattoo.”

Patton tried to hide his instinctive flinch at the name. 

“That is disconcerting. This Specter is capable of causing rapid cellular degeneration with a touch of his fingers.”

“One more thing, this one fired a gun around time of death,” the coroner explained. 

“Was a bullet found at the scene?” Patton asked. 

“It was. But we found something weird you might want to see.” The coroner stated and pulled up a clear plastic tray that was sealed shut. 

“What the heck…” Patton trailed off.

“Indeed…” Logan agreed as he held the tray in his hand. 

The bullet was damaged, but that wasn’t the weird bit. 

It was glowing a shadowy purple color. The same color was the finger marks on the victims. 

“The damage is consistent with nicking a bone on the way out. This bullet hit the Specter. But there wasn’t a drop of blood at the scene.”

Patton frowned. He knew that Supers could develop all kinds of weird powers. Everyone knew that. But not bleeding? How was that even possible?

“Regular labs don’t have the equipment to analyze this kind of thing.” Logan stated. 

“We don’t. And I have the paperwork for you guys to take a crack at it. I have been an ME for over ten years. I have no idea explanation for that.”

“Thank you.”

(*******)  
A mountain of paperwork and a brief journey back to the base later Patton’s mind was still swimming in confusion. 

They were looking for someone who could kill with a touch and didn’t bleed. 

What a terrifying existence.

“Dear friends!” Roman greeted as they entered. “Was it a successful venture?”

“It was. We have a bullet that pierced The Specter.” Logan informed calmly.

“Then we have that Shadowy Scoundrel’s DNA, and we are one step closer to finding a way stop his tormenting reign of terror!”

Patton gave him the disappointed stare. “The Specter is not the bad guy.”

“Tell that to the twelve people he’s murdered,” Roman responded. 

“It was self-defense! He needs our help!” Patton was getting upset again. They had been having this exact same argument since the discovery of the first set of bodies.

“Can you prove that?” Roman demanded.

“Actually, we can.” Logan commented. “We have enough data from the latest incident that I am able to build a 3-D model of last night. I had it rendering while we were out.”

Logan pushed a button under the large table. A 1/16th scale model of the spot they found the bodies. 

The image played.

Patton saw an innocent being cornered on his way home. 

Then that same innocent being shot and manhandled and trying to get away.

And he did.

“That looks like self-defense to me,” Patton spoke when Logan paused the image. “Whatever it they want, he either refuses to give or can’t. And they are willing to hurt him, which means they aren’t friends.”

“If that’s true, is the killing necessary?” Roman asked.

“The Specter may not have a choice. However it works, the power works by physical contact. They may not be able to control it.” 

Patton remembered Janus, his powers didn’t have an off-switch. Patton could move at normal speed if he wanted to. But some powers just were. Without a chance at normalcy.

Roman looked mad. “Then we should lock them up. If they are killing people and can’t control it, how long until something much worse than a bunch of ruffians happens?”

Patton flinched. “But if the Specter is being attacked by Janus and his minions, then don’t we have a responsibility to help them?”

Roman flinched at the name.

“That is still an ‘if’,” Logan commented. 

“Then let’s talk to him,” Patton commented. “You keep saying we need more information, then let’s get some from a direct source.”

“You want to talk to that Reptilian Rapscallion?”

Logan sighed, “That’s…not the worst idea I’ve heard.”

Patton felt a rush of hope. 

“It’s true. We are not closer to finding the Specter at this moment, and frankly this has gotten out of hand. And it would not be the first time an interrogation was held in a prison.”

“Thank you Logan. If Janus is targeting this person, knowing why might tell us who it is. And if he has nothing to do with this than isn’t that something we should know? Since the Specters fate is in our hands, we should learn as much as we can about his connection to Janus. If he even has one,” Patton gave Roman his most hopeful gaze.

“He has a strong argument. I don’t like the idea much, but I am always up for gathering more data before making a choice of this magnitude.” 

“Have you both lost your minds? That Traitorous Turtle cannot be trusted. We know that better than anyone else.”

“I’m not saying trust him. I just don’t want to rush to a choice that we can’t take back,” Patton argued.

“I’d hate for us to make another mistake. The whole city listens to us. We have to be sure. And maybe he can point us in a direction. Right now we have nothing more than a mess of speculations and too few concrete facts for a comfortable judgement. If there is even a chance that our choice ends in the destruction of an innocent life, then me must have all the facts.” Logan’s voice was sure. It was the most reassuring thing Patton had heard in days.

Roman turned to look away from both of them. “Fine. Fine. Go talk to the snake. But I will have no part in it.”

“I wasn’t suggesting we all go. I was thinking just me.”

Logan turned to look at Patton in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

“Look, we need him talking. He tolerated you on the best of days. Maybe showing that this is not aggression, just a conversation might keep his tongue loose?” Patton suggested. 

“You’re…not wrong. Okay. Let’s make the appropriate calls. I think we’d all rather get this over and done with.”

“Amen to that!” Roman yelled from where he was. Still not looking at either Patton or Logan. 

Patton gave Logan his best reassuring smile. 

“Just please. Please be careful. He is behind bars, but that does not mean isn’t dangerous. Just remember how he ended up there in the first place.” Logan’s eyes darted to the subtly shaking form of Roman. 

Right. Janus lost any chance at redemption when he killed Remus. 

“I’ll be careful.” Patton promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sneaky Snake is snek.  
> And Roman is shockingly hard to write for.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman stops a kidnapping and meets his one true love.

Roman Rex still thought the other two were out of their minds. 

There was no way that snake was going to help. 

He was letting off steam by doing patrols around the area of the Specter murders. Logan, being the massive nerd he is, made a map of the area the Specter likely lived in based off the locations of the killings. 

Two weeks of back and forth talks and the best idea any of them had was talking to the traitor that nearly destroyed their city and shattered their team?

Roman missed Remus. 

The man-child had no filter and was a handful they had to rein in all the time. 

But he was still Roman’s twin. 

And no one deserved to die like that.

Roman sighed in announce on the rooftop he was sitting on. 

This was a disaster. 

Stupid Specter. 

“Goddamn it! Let go of me you son of a bitch!” A voice from below. 

Roman looked over the edge of the building to see a man with haired dyed violet and a purple and black patchwork jacket being held by the wrist by a massive man and drug towards a black SUV. Roman smirked. Time to go to work. 

He jumped off the roof of the two-story building. His regenerative powers working fast enough that he didn’t even feel the impact. 

Both parties turned to him. 

“Hey, Wonderboy can you do your job and help me?!” Now that he had a closer look, the victim was remarkably cute. Dark eyes were wide as they peaked at him from under the violet bangs, black baggy pants, a dark purple shirt with a grey thunderstorm on it, the jacket looked heavy as it covered his frame, a pair of black wool gloves that exposed just the ends of his fingers, Roman wasn’t usually the type to go for the heavy eyeshadow but it worked better on this person’s face than it really should.

“I am sorry for being late.” Roman bowed to the cutie. He stood up straight and addressed the kidnapper, “I’m afraid I must demand that you unhand the fair maiden.”

The confused look he got from the victim was delightful.

“No can do. I have orders from my boss, he needs to talk to this one.”

“Your boss is in jail you brute!” Roman really need to get this person’s name. He was trashing in the grasp of the so-called brute grabbing onto the gloved hand. Feisty. Very attractive.

“I can’t just let a kidnapping happen in broad daylight. It’s in the job description.” 

“Can we please hurry this rescue along? I have better things to do today!” He was still trying to break out under his own power. 

Roman was rarely glad for the mask being a hero made him wear, it was a crime to hide a handsome face like this, but perhaps it was for the best no one could see his expression. 

He knew he was giving the storm cloud gay eyes. He could feel it. 

Perhaps a rescue can calm the raging storm of panic in those mesmerizing dark eyes. 

Roman pulled out his metal staff and twirled it once so that it unfolded to its full length.

The thug dropped his would-be-kidnappee, who then scrambled away to somewhere behind Roman.

Roman smirked, though no one could see it behind the full face mask. 

The thug swung at his with a punch that was easy to block. A well placed spinning strike of the staff on the back of the thug’s head knocked him out cold. 

Roman pushed his emblem. A castle in red over a white background paced on his arm. “I’ve apprehended a scoundrel in the midst of a kidnapping. Non-super. Just one.”

A voice on the other side, “Sending a car your way. ETA about five minutes.”

“Thank you.”

Roman turned to where the cute one had run off to. He was sitting with his back against a brick wall, shaking and hyperventilating. Panicking. 

Years of hero work sprung into action. He approached slowly while putting the weapon away.

“You’re alright now,” Roman spoke softly and gently, kneeling so that he was eye-to-eye with the other person. “They’re going to take him away soon. You’ll never have to see him again.”

The man’s eyes were blank.

“It’s okay,” Roman kept going. “Just breathe with me.” Roman took several large, overexaggerated slow breaths.

The man nodded slowly and matched Roman’s breathing. 

“Better?”

“Thanks Red.”

Roman swallowed, “Right. I guess I don’t need to introduce myself.”

“No. You don’t. I’ve lived in Thomasburg my whole life, I know you are.”

“I’m afraid I’m at a disadvantage here then, may I ask your name?”

A hint of the panic returned and the man was shaking slightly. “I…I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“That’s alright. I’d hate to make you uncomfortable.” Roman was a good enough actor to hide his disappointment. Seriously, this punk-goth-thing this person had going on was not Roman’s usual type but it was doing something for him with this one. Roman stood up and offered his hand, “Would you like some help standing?”

He got a headshake and the man put his hand against the wall as he stood up. “No. I don’t…I don’t like to be touched. By anyone.” He was blushing a delightful shade of pink as he stood on shaky legs.

Roman had heard of something like that.

“Anyway, I…I have to go. Thanks for saving me, Red.” 

Roman stood and watched as the man practically ran away from him.

Roman was in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww Princey thinks Virgil's cute.  
> I can't blame him.  
> Though something tells me this love is going to be more of a fight than Princey thinks.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan suffers through a recounting of Roman's heroics, and is rewarded with a suspect name.

Logan was considering the merits of duct-taping Roman’s mouth shut. 

“You should have seen him Logan, he was like a fallen angel. A feisty fighter cloaked in darkness and shadow. He was like the Megara to my Hercules and he even called me Wonderboy. He’s my soulmate, I know it!”

If windows were a high security risk Logan would have one installed for the sole purpose of shoving Roman out of it. Roman’s rapid cell regeneration would mean it would be nothing but a brief reprieve from the monologuing. And Patton had already left for Talyn Maximum Security Prison. He wouldn’t be back for a while. 

“Roman, you didn’t get this person’s name. You know nothing about this person. He may not even be gay.”

“We don’t know if he’s not gay.”

“Statistically speaking the chances of him not being gay far exceed the chances of him being gay.”

“He dyed his hair a magnificent magenta.” Roman countered. 

Patton couldn’t return fast enough. 

“That proves very little. Except that he likes the color purple.”

“Red and Violet go so well together, don’t you think?”

“You are skipping an innumerable amount of steps Roman. You met this guy briefly, in mask. Thomasburg is large enough that you may not see this person again. And if you do, he may not be single.”

“Love is a battlefield of trials and tribulations, and none are too great for the mighty Roman Rex!”

“What about the would-be kidnapper? Do we know anything about him?” Logan tried to get Roman back on task. 

“He’s got a snake tattoo. Someone who was a higher rank in Jack the Fibber’s gang.” Roman said, finally snapping back to something resembling actual reality. 

“And what else?”

“He was wearing this over sized rubber gloves, they were this hideous shade of yellow.”

Logan frowned. “Why wear gloves to kidnap a regular civilian? Did your crush say anything odd when you rescued him?”

“I remember every world that left my angelic shadow’s mouth.”

“Then repeat it. Word for word.” The information was clicking into place in Logans’ mind.

The correct area.

Attempted kidnapping by a person with the snake Tattoo. 

The kidnapper wore gloves, to prevent fingerprints? Or to protect from a contact based-ability.

The only image of the specter had them wearing black and purple.

“And then when I heroically offered my hand to him he claimed that he didn’t like to be touched and refuse to give his name. Then I had to watch as he ran from me. Shyness is an adorable trait.”

Logan fought the urge to bang his head into the desk.

“Roman. You may have found the Specter.”

“WHAT?!” Roman yelled. “NO! That lovely creature couldn’t possibly be that dastardly villain!”

“I’ll see if they get any information from him when they’re done interrogating him. Roman, why don’t you do a sketch of the victim’s face? I’ll run it through my facial recognition software, if he has a social media presence we might get a name.”

Roman perked up at the thought. “And if we find proof that he is innocent?”

“I won’t let you use resources to stalk someone.” 

“Isn’t that what you are doing?”

“I’m waiting to see what the police find.”

Roman had pulled a large blank sheet of paper and a pencil and was working away. 

At least he was quiet. 

For now.

(********)  
“Thank you so much. We appreciate all that you do. We’ll take it from here.” Logan hung up the phone and let out a long sigh. His hunch was correct. He was collecting the Specter to deliver to his boss.

Meaning Roman almost definitely saved and now has a raging crush on the Specter.

Who they still didn’t have a name for.

Oh dear.

“Well, what did the Ne’er do well have to say on this?”

“Your dark angel is almost certainly the Specter.” Logan informed him in his most even voice. He really wished Patton was back.

“So he has a few flaws, perhaps throwing my love his way will make him see the error of his ways.”

“How is your sketch?” Logan asked. 

Roman turned the pad in his direction. 

Staring back at him in purple pencil was an image of Virgil Dolor, Patton’s best friend and introvert.

Logan indulged his desire to slam his head into the table.

“Logan? Friend what is wrong?”

“I know who that is.”

There was an excite shriek. “You do?!”

“I do. You can’t tell Patton.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“That’s Virgil.”

“His goth friend?”

“Yes.”

There was ruffling, Logan didn’t have the energy to look up and see what Roman was doing. “This is the friend Patton raves about? He should introduce us properly.”

“Don’t. Whatever it is you are thinking of doing, don’t.”

“Didn’t they have an outing planned this Saturday?” Roman mused, clearly ignoring Logan at this point.

“Don’t.” Logan repeated firmly. “Just don’t. I will run ‘Virgil’ through a few databases. Maybe we can get a more certain answer to this question.”

“But wait, he was walking just fine when I saw him. He didn’t have any kind of limp if he was shot in the leg last night, which we know the Specter was, he would have some kind of sign of being hurt, wouldn’t he?”

Logan was grateful for the few moments of useful thoughts Roman occasionally provided. He looked up from the table.

“That is an interesting point. The Specter may not bleed but does he feel pain and does his power allow him to heal? We have no evidence to prove that it does.”

“Exactly! Therefore darling Virgil cannot be the Specter!”

Logan took a deep breath. “Alright, here’s what we do for now, we keep the kidnapper in our custody until we have the Specter. We can offer him lightened sentencing to full immunity depending what he is willing to tell us.”

“Too bad we can’t call back Patton and tell him that talking to that slimy snake is no longer needed.”

“Whatever he gets we’ll cross-check with what we get. But for now we should keep the Virgil thing to ourselves, I don’t want to worry him if we don’t have to.”

“You’re not going to tell me where Patton and you are going to meet Virgil, are you?”

“Nope. And unless you want a long list of questions from Patton you won’t ask him.”

Roman looked offended, and Logan questioned his sanity to be able to read Roman so well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Roman no.  
> Roman: ROMAN YES!  
> Oh dear...


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil fails at handling his distress from Roman's rescue which causes him to think back on how he ended up in this mess.

Virgil was just going to stop leaving his apartment. 

Twice.

In twenty-four hours.

What the fuck?!

And the Red Royal had some nice timing. 

Virgil’s heart was still pounding. He had seen the three heroes in person before, but not that close. Red was taller than he thought he would be. Then again the Metallurgist was 6’5”. Anyone would look short next to him. 

And the mask was somehow more glittery than the pictures had told him. 

It was painful to look at. 

And he still wasn’t sure about being called a fair maiden. 

He knew Red was extra, there were Tumblr blogs dedicated to Red being the most extra. But it was somehow understated. 

He had no desire to meet the man under the ornate Victorian stage mask covered in silver glitter.

Weirdo.

But he was going to. Soon. After all, how long until that guy told them everything? 

How long until the heroes know he was the Specter and how long until they come to arrest him or take him to Talyn or somewhere worse that citizens didn’t know about?

He couldn’t control the shaking as he curled up into a ball on the floor of his bedroom.

His life was over. 

His days of being anything even close to a normal citizen were numbered. 

How was Patton going to react? 

This was all that snake’s fault. He should never have trusted Janus. 

But he had been one of the heroes back then, and he had promised to help Virgil. 

Stupid. He was so stupid. 

(*******)  
Virgil didn’t start noticing he wasn’t a regular kid until his junior year of high school. He was waiting out a mandatory school gathering under the bleachers because he couldn’t stand being near that many people. 

He had been feeling strange aches and pains for weeks, his parents had both thought he was just going through a growth spurt. Neither of them listened when he tried to explain that this was different.

It was stronger in his hands. 

He stared down at his fingers, and he slowly closed his hands up as a fist and then uncurled them. 

There wasn’t anything wrong with them. Nothing Virgil could see in any case. 

That’s when some asshole found him. 

Virgil couldn’t remember their name. Just that it was some dude in a white and blue variety jacket.

He got in Virgil’s face. 

Virgil wore a black t-shirt with short sleeves and a single spike black leather bracelet and ripped black jeans.

So much more skin exposed then. After all, he wasn’t a walking biohazard yet. 

A hand was placed on his arm. An unwanted hand that grabbed roughly. 

Then the guy collapsed. Unconscious, but there wasn’t screaming yet.

It wouldn’t be lethal until much later. 

Virgil nearly screamed but he covered his mouth. 

He couldn’t remember how or when the ambulance was called. 

Apparently he had a strange purple bruise on his hand for weeks afterwards. 

Virgil was pulled out of the school. He poked and prodded by doctors and ‘experts’ for months. 

None of them had any answers that Virgil hadn’t already guessed. 

He was a super. His power was a passive ability that took effect when he had skin on skin contact with a living animal. Plants were unaffected, and anything that was dead was left alone. 

The solution was simple. At first. 

If Virgil covered up his skin, no one would get hurt.

No one looked twice at the guy in the hoodie who wore gloves all the time. Staying indoors also helped. 

But it kept getting stronger. 

And stranger.

Virgil doesn’t know when exactly he stopped bleeding from injuries, but it wasn’t hard to notice.

He was living on his own at that point. He got the small one bedroom apartment for cheap and he made money from selling his knitted stuff on Etsy. 

Who knew people would shell out so much for a hand-knitted custom sweater?

He was cooking, less hassle and human interaction if he just did himself, and cut his finger chopping carrots. 

Instead of crimson blood, like humans have, Virgil saw nothing but shadowy darkness under his skin. 

It horrifying.

And the final straw before calling the helpline for Supers. 

The local news would show it once a while. Enough for folks like Virgil to know it existed. 

That was how he met Janus Anguis. Or as he was known to the public back then, The Serpent.

“Hello, you’ve reached the hotline for new Supers. How may I help you?” The voice was soothing. Relaxed. Like this wasn’t one of the worst days of Virgil’s life.

“Hi. I’m… I need help with my powers.”

There was a gentle laugh, “Yes. That would be the normal reason to call this number, why don’t you take a few deep breaths and explain what’s been happening. And please, don’t leave out any details.”

He was so damn persuasive. And Virgil didn’t have options.

And Virgil told him everything.

There was silence on the other side for several seconds.

“I think I might know what your issue is, why don’t we meet face-to-face? It might be easier to explain than over the phone.”

And Virgil was desperate enough to agree.

Stupid. Stupid thing to do. Look where it got him, hunted down and a wanted man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor baby...  
> Someone in a hazmat suit please hug the dark strange son.  
> Please?


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton comes face to face with Janus for the first time since his betrayal.

Patton hadn’t been to Talyn Maximum Security Prison before. 

He’d thought of going many, many times over the past three years. He had known Janus the longest, he’s the one who should have known first that something was wrong. That something was bothering Janus. 

But hindsight is twenty-twenty.

And Patton had failed his team and his friends.

But this wasn’t about them anymore. 

This was about an innocent in need of help.

That thought alone was able to keep the tears in Patton’s heart from going to his eyes.

“Right this way Blue Heart,” the warden guided him past all the cells, some of which held prisoners that yelled every profanity under the sun. If Remus was here he would be impressed by the creativity on display. 

It was likely because The Light Sides had helped put nearly a quarter of these prisoners behind bars.

Patton followed the warden all while keeping his head high but not looking at any of them.

Eventually they found themselves at a large door, like the vault doors on banks.

The warden spoke into his radio and the door creaked open slowly. The cells in this new part of the prison weren’t like general population, and they weren’t solitary confinement either. 

Patton couldn’t see into the cells, each was behind a second high security door that couldn’t be opened without a host of procedures. 

These were the cells for the Supers.

Janus was at the back of the hall. Behind a door just like the others.

After all, he wasn’t a hero anymore. He was a villain. He became the very thing they were supposed to protect people from.

Other call on the radio. 

The door opened by itself. 

Patton went in by himself, the warden stayed outside.

The cell was divided into two parts, one was an empty section for the visitor/prison staff, the other was a padded room. The two were divided by a very, very thick sheet of Plexiglas with holes drilled into it so sound could escape.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it Blue?” Janus spoke from where he stood in the center of the padded room. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and had his hands bound by the special cuffs Logan had made to bind his powers. Thought they looked less like cuffs and more like blocks of cement attached to his arms.

Janus had barely changed, appearance wise, from when Patton had last seen him. His left scaled side of his body 

“It has. We’ve been…busy. Keeping the city safe.” Patton said. “But this isn’t a social visit. I need to ask you some questions.”

Janus laughed, “Of course this isn’t a social visit. I can’t imagine why you would. We can’t be friends anymore. The costume was a dead giveaway Blue.”

Patton was proud of himself for keeping a straight face and swallowed once before speaking. “Have you had any contact with any former members of the Yellow Snakes since your incarceration?” 

Janus tilted his head, the angle showed more of his left scaly side. “No.”

A lie. Patton knew his tells well enough to know. “Do you know anything about the Specter murders?”

“The Specter? Who’s that? I’m afraid I’m not exactly up to date with current events.” More of the right side. A truth.

Patton frowned, “What about anyone with a power based on physical contact?”

The semi-confident smirk that was a trademark with Janus slipped for just a second. He did know. “What about that?”

“Do you know anyone who fits that description?”

“If I did, would it matter?” Janus asked.

“Yes or no Janus.”

“It was a different lifetime. Back when I was still one of you. He called our little help line. He had no more idea about my grand plan that you did.”

Truth. “Then why are your people after him?”

The snake eye narrowed sharply and his body tensed. Anger. “What?” The question was low with a hint of danger. 

“You had no idea? None?” Patton asked.

Janus shook with his anger, “No. I didn’t know.”

Truth. “Well someone with a connection to the snakes is after him. We want names.”

Janus’s nostrils flared. “I don’t know.”

The anger was making it harder to tell truth from lies. “If this was from before, why is there no record of him?” They checked what they knew about the Specters powers with every database about Supers they had. But if Janus was coaching him through official channels there should be paperwork.

“I erased all evidence of him before my grand finale. I didn’t want any backlash falling on him when he had no part in it.”

“You’ve been remarkably honest with me Janus.” Patton commented.

“Of course. I want you to do something for me, since I’m being honest and cooperative.”

Patton wanted to say ‘Of course, I want to help.’ He settled on; “What?”

“The Specter. When you find him, I want you to take him under your wing. He’s little more than a scared kid with some bad luck. I think some help from a real hero might be just what he needs.”

Patton was surprised, “You care about this person. Then give me a name.”

“I can’t. These walls have ears. Besides, you lot are capable. I’m sure you’ll find him.”

“Then I don’t know if we’ll find him before whoever took over the snakes does.”

Janus hissed, “I wish I knew who that is.”

“Who else knew about him?” Patton asked. 

“No one.” A lie? No. A partial truth? “No one who is still alive at any rate.”

A chill hit Patton. Remus’s corpse flicked into his mind. “The Duke? Don’t tell me that’s why…”

Janus rolled his eyes, “He wasn’t supposed to die. That was…a grave miscalculation on my part. And one of my few regrets.”

Another truth.

“And the others?” Patton asked. 

“If you’re hoping for something sappy like losing you idiots, you’ll be sorely disappointed.” Janus deflected. “That was always the plan.”

“Who else has spoken to you since you’ve been incarcerated?” Patton asked. 

Janus laughed, “Mostly prison staff. A therapist came in once, apparently with special permission for some study, they didn’t come back.”

“Anyone else?” Patton pushed.

“There was one fellow, almost charmingly disgusting. Cute mustache though, reminded me of The Duke.” Truth. “Don’t know how he got in.” Lie. “Asked me all kinds of questions. I wasn’t in nearly as good a mood then as I am now.” A smirk. “Did they tell you about that? A break in here, but no break outs. Odd fellow. Wouldn’t tell me what he wanted. Claimed he just wanted to see the newest big bad in person. I told him to piss off.” More truth.

“Anything else you can tell me about this person? Sounds like they might be worth looking into.”

“Nothing else stuck out to me about them.” A lie. 

“When was this?”

Janus huffed and looked around his cell. “You know the passage of time in here can get kind of hazy. I never really know what day it is. You could tell me any date and I would likely believe you.” A lie.

“Janus,” Patton used what the others had teasingly called his ‘dad’ voice.

Janus laughed, “It’s strange the things you miss hearing. I’d say about three months ago?”

Was that enough time? Was there something else they didn’t know about?

The door opened. It was time for Patton to leave. 

“Fine. Goodbye Janus.”

“Is it though?” Janus teased.

Patton tried to fight off the sense of dread that brought as he left Janus rotting in his cell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slimy Snek.  
> Patton is too innocent for prison!


End file.
